I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a method of growing heterostructures with abrupt junctions using an organometallic precursor in a hot wall reactor and in particular to a method for the epitaxial growth of InP by reacting trimethyl indium (TMI) with HCl in a hot-wall reactor.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) has been used extensively in the epitaxial growth of III-V layers for electronic and optoelectronic device applications, because it has demonstrated the ability to produce high quality heterostructures with abrupt interfaces. Because most organometallic precursors decompose or react with group V hydrides at temperatures above 200.degree. to 300.degree. C., cold-wall reactors have been typically used to prevent depletion of the reactants before reaching the substrate. In epitaxial techniques such as hydride or chloride VPE, hot-wall reactors have been used, and the group III species have been transported to the substrate as volatile monochlorides. These hot wall reactors have been used to grow high quality material, but growth of heterostructures with thin layers and abrupt junctions have been limited by the difficulty in changing the flow rates of group III chlorides that originate from gas-solid reactions in separate zones upstream in the reactor. Compared to the OMVPE, potential advantages of the chloride and hydride techniques include greatly reduced V/III partial pressure ratios, greater control and uniformity of substrate temperature, higher growth rates, greater ability for selective growth, and the potential for higher through-put.